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Tesla shares bounce no surprise to these Uber drivers
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Tesla shares bounce no surprise to these Uber drivers

Plus, Ford pushing hybrid models as EV plans scaled back

David Callaway's avatar
David Callaway
Apr 09, 2024
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Callaway Climate Insights
Callaway Climate Insights
Tesla shares bounce no surprise to these Uber drivers
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In today’s edition:

— Tesla shares show signs of life
— Dealers report more people looking at hybrids over EVs
— Americans less likely to buy an EV this year than last year: poll
— Locus Technologies wins major New York emissions contract
— Happy 90th birthday Jane Goodall
— Renewable energy growth in next five years charted
— Chinook salmon take surprise detour on their first big swim
What if a Tesla 2 and a Tesla Cybertruck had a Tesla robotaxi? It might look something like this. At least, that’s what this AI image generator thinks.

Two of my Uber drivers in London last week showed up in Teslas. Another one in New York the week before took me to the airport in his Tesla. I asked them each why they would want a Tesla for running around in the city and they all came back with the same answer — the autopilot feature. In other words, they weren’t even driving.

I thought about this transition among everyday drivers as I contemplated Tesla’s plunging stock price TSLA 0.00%↑ ) last week. It’s certainly a victim of more competition, especially from the Chinese, and industry price wars. Even the slowdown in sales of EVs in general has hurt it. Not to mention Elon Musk’s, uh, well Elon Musk.

But the company, a few shares of which I own in a family fund, still enjoys a majority share of the U.S. EV market, which at 8% of total sales would have passed last year the level of mass adoption of 5% that BloombergNRG uses as a tipping point for the beginning of mass introduction of a new technology into a market.

It has a higher market share of the emerging industry for electric vehicle charging stations, more than half of the estimated 150,000 existing stations in the U.S. And it can apparently still generate excitement, with shares rising more than 5% on Monday after Musk said a new generation “robotaxi” would be unveiled later this summer. Shares were up Tuesday as well.

After nine months of declines and the overall market for EVs challenged, it may be too soon to start looking for value here, especially with EVs playing an increasing role in the culture wars that will define this year’s presidential election. But it will certainly make Tesla earnings in two weeks an important bellwether for the EV field.

Meanwhile, pay attention to your rideshare drivers or taxi drivers. They are the first adopters of all meaningful technology transitions on our roads. They know what works. And doesn’t.

Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas at dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.

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Tuesday’s subscriber-only insights

President Joe Biden speaks at Ford Motor Co.’s Dearborn, Mich.-based Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in 2021 with a new F-150 Lightning model in the background. Photo: Ford.

Why Ford is tapping the brakes on its rollout of new (and existing) EVs

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